The Yankees have really not done very much in the draft, and there’s probably two main reasons for that: 1) They generally have picks later in the round due to all this winning, and 2) They’ve had a tendency to sign Type-A free agents and lose their draft picks as compensation. That said, they still have found some very good players through the draft. Clearly the best one has to be Derek Jeter, who will end up in the Hall of Fame one day. Of late, they’ve gotten solid performance or value out of recent 1st rounders Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy. Jorge Posada was someone who I thought was an international free agent, but was actually drafted and has clearly been elite at times as well.

International Free Agency

The Yankees have done their best work in the international free agent market, with so many players found out of the Dominican Republic and of course Japan as well. So many of them have either turned into excellent players themselves (Rivera, Matsui, Cano), or have been turned into key players at the time (Contreras, Soriano, Cabrera). Clearly, not all of their work in this market has been amazing (See Igawa, Kei), but with the amount that they spend on payroll they clearly have the ability to absorb any issues.

Overall Grade

A. The Yankees receive my first grade of A, mostly because the team has managed to find homegrown players for nearly every position and part of the rotation. That said, I think they are behind the rest of the teams left because they simply have the ability to absorb such large contracts and can literally outbid other teams if they want a player bad enough. I do think it has been interesting to watch over the past few seasons as the team has really made a concerted effort to not just trade away all their prospects for veterans.

For the final month of the season, I’ll be posting a slightly different set of trade retrospectives. In 1997, the Marlins, under owner Wayne Huizenga, won the whole thing, taking the World Series in 7 games in a walk-off victory over the Cleveland Indians. The team had assembled quite a collection of talented players, with Edgar Renteria, Bobby Bonilla, Moises Alou and Gary Sheffield anchoring the lineup and Kevin Brown, Al Leiter, Livan Hernandez, and Robb Nen anchoring the pitching staff. However, the team was for sale, and had been prior to the championship. From Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun, on the morning after the victory:

The Marlins are in danger of being dismantled. Owner H. Wayne Huizenga put the club up for sale last summer and — even though the Marlins reached the World Series — figures to decrease the payroll this winter.

Well, it didn’t take all that long, and the pieces started falling pretty quickly. These posts will not be just surrounding 1 trade, but rather the whole of the work related to this firesale. Part 1 will cover the trades made in November 1997

The Trades

November 11, 1997 – The Marlins acquired Mark Johnson, Manuel Barrios and Oscar Henriquez from the Astros for OF Moises Alou
November 18, 1997 – The Marlins sent Kurt Miller to the Cubs as a part of a conditional trade
November 18, 1997 – The Marlins acquired Jesus Martinez from the Diamondbacks for OF Devon White
November 18, 1997 – The Marlins acquired Mike Pageler, Mike Villano and Joe Fontenot from the Giants for CL Robb Nen

The Moving Pieces

In Houston, LF Moises Alou was slotted in to the middle of the lineup and starting in left field.

In Chicago, P Kurt Miller was sent to AAA Iowa, where he was slotted into the starting rotation for the team.

In Arizona, OF Devon White was slotted in to the starting CF role.

In San Francisco, CL Robb Nen was immediately placed into the closer’s role for the Giants.

In Florida, P Manuel Barrios was sent to AAA Charlotte to work as a reliever. Oscar Henriquez made the big club out of Spring Training in 1998 as a reliever. P Mark Johnson was sent to AA Portland in the Eastern League, where he worked in the starting rotation. P Mike Pageler was also sent to AA Portland, where he worked as a reliever out of the pen. P Mike Villano was sent to AAA Charlotte, where he was to work out of the starting rotation.

What Happened Next

In Houston, Moises Alou had what was probably the best season of his career. He hit .312/.399/.582 with 38 homeruns, 124 runs batted in and 11 stolen bases. He finished 3rd in the NL MVP voting that year, won his second career Silver Slugger award, and was named to the NL All Star team.

In Arizona, Devon White was slotted into the starting center field spot for the expansion Diamondbacks, and into the top of the order. He hit 22 homeruns and stole 22 bases while representing the Diamondbacks in the All-Star game in 1998.

In San Francisco, Robb Nen was an All-Star in his first season, posting 40 saves and striking out an excellent 11.2 batters per 9 innings.

In Iowa, Miller went 14-3 with a 3.81 ERA over 167.2 IP prior to getting a callup to the big club late in September.

In Miami, Oscar Henriquez started the season in the bullpen for the Marlins, but pitched extremely poorly. He posted an 8.55 ERA in 20 appearances before being sent back to AAA Charlotte. Joe Fontenot made 8 starts for the Marlins from May to July before being sent back to the minors for good. He went 0-7 with a 6.33 ERA in 42.2 IP.

In Charlotte (Marlins’ AAA affiliate), Manuel Barrios went 2-0 with a 3.70 ERA in 18 appearances (1 start) before being called up to the big club. Mike Villano went 3-5 with a 7.69 ERA in 13 appearances (10 starts) for Charlotte.

In Portland, Mark Johnson went 5-14 with a 3.62 ERA in 142.1 IP in 1998. He spent the whole season in Portland. Mike Pageler spent the 1998 season in the bullpen in Portland, posting a 5-5 record with a 4.62 ERA and 13 saves in 76 IP.

The Net Moves

Houston – First Level

Moises Alou was in Houston for 4 seasons, but missed the 1999 season due to injury. In 421 games, he hit .331/.403/.585 with 95 homeruns and 346 runs batted in. He was an All-Star twice (1998, 2001), and finished in the top 20 of MVP voting all 3 seasons he played. He left the Astros via free agency after the 2001 season, and was not offered arbitration and as such was not eligible for free agent compensation.

Chicago – First Level

Kurt Miller pitched for the Cubs organization through the 1999 season, when it appears that he retired following that season.

Arizona – First Level

Devon White played 1 season in Arizona, posting a .279/.335/.456 line with 22 homeruns, 85 runs batted in, and 22 stolen bases. He was an All-Star in his season in the desert, and left via free agency following the 1998 season. The Diamondbacks received 2 picks in the 1999 draft for the loss of the free agent, which they used to draft P Casey Daigle and P Jeremy Ward.

San Francisco – First Level

Robb Nen spent 5 seasons in the city by the Bay, making 3 All-Star teams and finishing as high as 4th in the Cy Young voting. He went 24-25 with a 2.43 ERA and 206 saves in 378.1 IP, and helped the team reach the World Series in 2002. He retired after the 2002 season due to injuries.

Florida – First Level

Manuel Barrios made 2 appearances with the Major League club, throwing 2 2/3 innings. He was included in a large trade to the Dodgers I will be reviewing in Part 3.

Oscar Henriquez finished out the 1998 season in the minors before being traded to the New York Mets for C Jorge Fabregas on 11/20/1998.

Mark Johnson only spent the 1998 season with the Marlins’ organization. On February 1st, 1999, he was traded with Todd Noel and Ed Yarnall to the Yankees for 3B Mike Lowell.

Jesus Martinez never pitched an inning for the Marlins’ organization, instead being included in a trade with the Reds later in Spring Training 1998.

Mike Pageler never made it to the show, spending 1998-2000 seasons with the Marlins in the minor leagues.

Mike Villano never made it to the show either, spending 1998 and part of 1999 with the Marlins before finishing the season with the Mets. It is unclear to me how he got there.

Joe Fontenot only got those 8 starts in the Majors, and was sent back to AAA for the remainder of 1998 and all of 1999. It appears he was out of baseball at that point, at the age of 22.

Florida – Second Level

Mike Lowell spent part of 1999 in the minors before becoming a fixture in the Marlins lineup midseason. He was with the team through the 2005 season, but not before making 3 All Star teams and winning a Silver Slugger award. He hit .272/.339/.462 with 143 HR and 578 RBI in his time there. He was a part of the Josh Beckett trade during the 2005 offseason.

Jorge Fabregas spent 82 games as the backup catcher for the Marlins, posting a .206 batting average with 3 homeruns. He was released by the Marlins on August 26, 1998.

Overall Reactions

Wow, these ones didn’t turn out good at all. With the exception of Mike Lowell, there were NO players that amounted to much of anything for the Marlins. There was saved money in salaries clearly, but it’s hard to believe that they were this unlucky with regard to picking out pitching prospects. Clearly it seems that they should have gotten lucky on at least one of them, but they clearly didn’t. Mike Lowell definitely was the pick of this bunch for the Fish.

For the other teams, the Diamondbacks got something they really needed in a veteran presence in the lineup. The Giants really stabilized the back end of their bullpen by bringing in Nen, and he was as solid as they come during his time there. Even the Astros did well to get Alou while he was on the upswing. For this first set of trades, the Marlins lost.

The next post in this series will be up next Saturday, and will cover the rest of the trades made prior to January 31st.

Josh Beckett had his best season to the point prior to the trade in the 2005 season, going 15-8 with a 3.38 ERA and 166 strikeouts in 178 2/3 innings pitched. However, he was entering his 5th full season, and would be eligible for free agency after the 2007 season. Mike Lowell, however, was the main reason for the potential trades being floated. The Marlins were desperately looking to slash payroll, and Lowell was due $9 million in 2006.

The Red Sox had won the AL Wild Card in 2005 with a 95-67 record, but were needing a solid pitcher to slot in behind Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield. Current 3B Bill Mueller was also going to be a free agent, and the organization did not necessarily want to hand over the job to the young Kevin Youkilis.

The Moving Pieces

In Boston, Beckett slotted into the front end of their starting rotation, and Lowell as their starting 3B.

The return for the Red Sox in the 2006 was a bit of a mixed bag, as Beckett went 16-11 over 204 innings, but posted a 5.01 ERA. Lowell had a solid season, hitting 20 home runs, driving in 80 runs, and posting a .284 batting average. The team itself however, did not make that playoff push that they had grown accustomed to. They went 86-76, and finished 3rd behind the Blue Jays in the AL East.

The Marlins were extremely happy with the players they got in return, specifically Hanley Ramirez. He won the 2006 NL Rookie of the Year award behind a stellar season: .292, 17 HR, 59 RBI, 51 SB, and 119 runs scored. Anibal Sanchez came up and gave the team a shot in the arm as well, posting a 10-3 record with a 2.83 ERA in 17 starts.

The Net Moves

Red Sox – First Level

Josh Beckett remains with the team, signing a contract extension first through the 2010 season, and now through the 2014 season. He has been a bit up and down overall, posting a 69-37 record with a 4.29 ERA in 880 2/3 innings pitched. He has 804 strikeouts and 232 walks, and has represented the Red Sox twice in the All-Star game.

Mike Lowell is also still with the team, despite their best efforts to move him in the past 2 seasons. He has posted a .291/.347/.472 line with 79 HR and 368 RBI, and was an All-Star once.

Hanley Ramirez has developed into the NL’s best shortstop, and one of the top fantasy players overall. In 737 games, he has hit .313/.384/519 with 119 HR, 375 RBI and 190 steals. He has made 3 All-Star appearances, and has won 2 Silver Slugger Awards. In addition, the Marlins have signed him to contract extension through 2014.

Anibal Sanchez has seen some rough patches, mostly due to injuries and inconsistency, but still pitches for the Marlins. He has a 28-25 record with a 3.62 ERA in 430 1/3 innings pitched. He’s struck out 323 and walked 190.

Jesus Delgado pitched 2 innings in the Majors with the Marlins, and was selected off waivers by the Mariners on 3/15/2009. He appears to be out of organized baseball at this point.

Harvey Garcia threw a few more innings (12 1/3), but was released by the Marlins on 3/16/2009. Must have been roster clearing time that week.

Red Sox – Second Level

Josh Bard appeared in 7 games for the Sox, and was used primarily as the personal catcher for knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield. It became clear very quickly however that he was not well suited for the task, and was traded by the end of April to the Padres with P Cla Meredith for C Doug Mirabelli.

Coco Crisp was with the Red Sox through the 2008 season. He hit .271/.330/.390 with 21 homeruns and 70 stolen bases during his time there, but was traded when it became clear that prospect Jacoby Ellsbury was ready to man center field. Crisp was traded to the Royals for RP Ramon Ramirez on November 19, 2008

Doug Mirabelli became the personal catcher for Tim Wakefield again, and spent both the 2006 and 2007 seasons in that role before retiring.

Ramon Ramirez spent the 2009 and part of the 2010 seasons with the Sox, posting a 7-7 record with a 3.46 ERA out of the bullpen. He was traded on July 31, 2010 to the Giants for minor leaguer Daniel Turpen.

Javier Lopez was in the Red Sox bullpen from 2006-2009, and posted a 5-3 record with a 3.30 ERA, primarily as a LOOGY reliever. He left the Red Sox as a free agent after the 2009 season.

Overall Reactions

I think that this is another one of those trades that worked out well for both teams. The Red Sox, led by the performances of Beckett and Lowell, won their 2nd World Series in 4 seasons in 2007. Whether or not they come to regret the extension that they gave to Josh Beckett recently in the same way that they regret the one that they gave to Lowell remains to be seen, but as I’ve said before, flags fly forever. They also got some decent production out of Crisp while he was in Boston, and got a solid reliever in return for him.

The winner, if I had to pick one, would have to be the Marlins though. Ramirez has become a perennial MVP-caliber player, who routinely is at the top of the batting average charts as well as the stolen base leader boards. They were able to sign him to a team-friendly contract extension through 2014, and Ramirez remains the franchise player for a team that was in desperate need of one when the team traded 1B Miguel Cabrera and P Dontrelle Willis. I am not sure he will be able to stay at shortstop once that contract expires, as his fielding is less than amazing at a high-defense position. But time will tell on that one, and in the mean time the Marlins are enjoying every bit of production he provides.

Erik Bedard made two different rehab starts this week, and is tentatively slotted in to make his return to the Majors on July 6th.

Tommy Hanson had a pair of forgettable starts this week, as he allowed a total of 14 earned runs over 6 2/3 innings pitched.

Ubaldo Jimenez had what was probably his worst start of the season, allowing 6 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Red Sox on Wednesday. The regression was due at some point, and this could be it.

Injuries abound over the week, especially if your jersey says Red Sox on the front. The day after hitting 3 homers in a game, Dustin Pedroia fouled a pitch off the inside of his foot, breaking it. Return timetable: Uncertain, but placed on the disabled list. On Saturday, starting pitcher Clay Buchholz hyperextended his knee running the bases in the second inning. Return timetable: Unknown. And on Sunday, catcher Victor Martinez took a foul ball off of his left thumb during the game, breaking the thumb. Return timetable: Too soon to know yet. What a terrible weekend it was for the Red Sox in San Francisco, despite winning.

Edwin Jackson of the Diamondbacks threw the 4th no hitter of the season on Friday, throwing a season-high 149 pitches and walking 8 to do it. It’s been really interesting to see so many no-hitters, and reminds me a lot of the 1991 season, when there were 7 of them during the season.

Manager A.J. Hinch of the Diamondbacks was given a lot of grief for allowing his pitcher to throw that many pitches in pursuit of a no-hitter, but I’m inclined to believe that the group of the manager, the pitcher, and the pitching coach are going to know what their player can and cannot handle.

In a rather surprising move, the Marlins fired manager Fredi Gonzalez on Wednesday morning. The Marlins were in 4th place at the time, and ownership had made it pretty clear that they expected the team to be in the playoff hunt and make the playoffs at the end of the season. Whether or not that was really realistic remains to be seen, but the Marlins will continue to search for his replacement.

I don’t think we can really discuss the week that was without discussing Big Z and his big blowup during his start on Friday afternoon. Whether or not he was trying to fire up the team remains to be seen, but the Cubs did not appreciate the behavior, pulled him from the start after 1 inning, and suspended him indefinitely. It’s really been a lost season both for the Cubs and Zambrano himself, and Big Z will be sent to the bullpen when his suspension is over.

Saturday brought the season debut of Giants’ pitching prospect Madison Bumgarner. He pitched effectively in the loss, going 7 innings and not having 100 pitches in that time. If they keep him up the rest of the season, they will have added an excellent arm to an already top-tier pitching rotation.

Andy Oliver was called up on Friday to take the rotation spot of the recently demoted Rick Porcello, making his major league debut. His debut was nothing particularly amazing, but Oliver is probably best known for his legal fight regarding his eligibility to pitch in college.

Josh Hamilton has been hitting out of his mind for over 3 weeks now, as he is in the middle of a 21-game hitting streak. He has hit nearly .500 with a whole lot of power since the streak started.

Jose Guillen is also in the midst of a 21 game hitting streak, but it appears that it has not been nearly as prolific as the one by Hamilton at this point.

Stephen Strasburg continues to dominate major league hitters, and took his first loss of the season in a 1-0 game against the Royals this week. He now holds the record for most strikeouts in his first 4 starts of the career with 41 in that time.

Upcoming Posts This Week:

Tuesday: The Original Draft Series – Team #18 and #17
Wednesday: The Original Draft Series – Team #16 and #15
Thursday: The Month of June in Review
Friday: Trade Retrospective – Rafael Palmeiro to the Rangers

The first manager to lose his job this season was the Royals’ Trey Hillman. He was replaced by Ned Yost. I’m not sure that this was Hillman’s fault, but the team was no longer responding and something needed to be done. I figure that at the end of the season, Dayton Moore will be next.

Carlos Guillen will be coming off the disabled list soon, and he’s due for another position change again, as he’s being slotted in to play 2B for the Tigers. I thought this was actually a pretty smart decision, as Brennan Boesch is hitting the cover off the ball, and Scott Sizemore was not.

The Red Sox finished 2009 with a 95-67 record, good for 2nd place in the AL East, and the Wild Card bid for the American League. The offense was led by LF Jason Bay (36 HR, 119 RBI), CF Jacoby Ellsbury (.301, 70 SB), and 1B/3B Kevin Youkilis (.305, 27 HR, 94 RBI), while the pitching staff was anchored by Jon Lester (15-8, 3.41 ERA) and Josh Beckett (17-6, 3.86 ERA). GM Theo Epstein was extremely busy during the season, acquiring C Victor Martinez from the Indians for a package of players, and also acquiring 1B Casey Kotchman while trading away SP Brad Penny, SP John Smoltz, 1B Adam LaRoche, and SS Julio Lugo.

The Red Sox season really appeared to be a tale of two halves, as the Red Sox were in first place as late as July 20th. However, once the Yankees got on a roll, the Sox were relegated to chasing after the wild card. In the playoffs, they drew the Angels in the first round, and were summarily swept in 3 games by the Angels.

The thing that I really found interesting about the Red Sox is that they were able to take some high-risk players, and when they didn’t work, still were able to make moves to allow them to recover. Penny and Smoltz both didn’t pitch particularly well for the Red Sox, but all they really cost the Sox was money. In spite of giving up quite a few players to acquire Victor Martinez, the farm system still remains extremely deep.

Team Outlook for 2010

The Red Sox are expected to compete for a playoff spot again this year, and would be on the short list of World Series contenders as well. They’ve improved at 3 positions where they were weak at the start of the 2009 season (C, 3B, SS), while losing some offensive production in LF. However, they’ve added excellent defenders at both 3B and LF, who should help make up some of that production. Their pitching staff is extremely deep, with Beckett, Lester and free agent signee John Lackey penciled in at the top of a rotation which still includes Daisuke Matsuzaka, a more experienced Clay Buchholz, and Tim Wakefield to fill in with solid innings in either long-relief or as a spot-starter.

I’m not really sure where the weakness would be on the Red Sox as of yet. J.D. Drew is always a risk to get injured, and DH David Ortiz was a bit of a mixed bag last season. The bullpen is still extremely strong, with Jonathan Papelbon slotted in as the closer yet again. Even the bench is fairly strong, with 3B Mike Lowell, C Jason Varitek, and 3B/OF Bill Hall among the players manager Terry Francona can call on to give the starters a rest.

Fantasy Outlook for 2010

Lots of players to like here, with C Victor Martinez, 1B/3B Kevin Youkilis, 2B Dustin Pedroia, SS Marco Scutaro, CF Jacoby Ellsbury, CL Jonathan Papelbon, and SPs Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and John Lackey all being owned in standard 10-team leagues. If I were looking for a player with some upside, LF Mike Cameron could potentially hit better this season with a full home schedule of the Green Monster.

Prediction for 2010

The Red Sox, barring any unusual injuries, should be right at the top of the AL East again. I think that they’re going to be extremely competitive, and should be in the playoffs come October.